Today’s reading is Mark 10.
Jesus is walking and teaching. In reading through this chapter I catch myself putting my human emotions and frustrations on Jesus. Everywhere he goes people are following him and waiting to hear him speak. The Pharisees are always trying to trip him up like they did with their question about divorce. Then he has to explain to the rich young man that he must sell everything and follow Him to gain eternal life and the guy basically said no and “went sadly away”. The disciples never quite “get it” either and Jesus spends extra time explaining that He will die and rise again. They also struggle with selfishness and Jesus has to stop and teach them about being a servant and how to be the “least” among them. It sounds a lot like parenting to me and I get exhausted for Jesus. But He never got exhausted. He knew the road he was walking and all the conversations, healings, and confrontations were important. They were all leading Him towards the goal of providing salvation for the world. He never got annoyed with the questions or frustrated with their lack of understanding or knowledge. He kept on teaching and healing and loving.
In the midst of the teaching, training, and healing Jesus stopped to bless the children. In verses 13-16 parents were bringing their children to Jesus for blessing and the disciples tried to keep them away. Jesus said “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God”. Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.
These children were not asking difficult questions about theology or dealing with adult attitudes. Their parents told them about Jesus and they were thrilled to go see him. They knew he was doing miracles and they were listening to all the talk around town about him. They had no questions about stepping into his arms and receiving his blessing. And Jesus was happy to give it. Pure joy. Faith.
I pray this prayer over my kids at night, that God would lay His hand of blessing on their heads. This is a reminder to me that He has a path for their lives that I do not control. It reminds me that the blessing of God is bigger than the sports they play, the grades they get, or the school they go to. There is an eternal perspective that far surpasses anything of this world. And I pray that they would know the blessing of God so when they face persecution for their faith they will continue to stand by it.
I pray this for you today too. That God would lay his hand of blessing on your head and you would receive it in faith. That your faith would be like a child and you would be able to accept all that Jesus has done for you on the cross.
Shelly